22-year-old
model Riley Montana quickly found her way in to the spotlight thanks to
Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci. Just two weeks after Riley moved to New York
City to seriously pursue her career as a model, Tisci took a chance on the
unknown face by casting her in the new Givenchy campaign. Tisci has a track
record for launching new faces and is known to select a diverse range of models
for his campaigns. Riley commented that she "cried and fell on the
floor" after landing the major job: ''Riccardo [Tisci] took a chance
on me. I was brand new. He supports diversity and I love that about
him. He doesn't care about what people think.''
Riley
adds that although some African-American models might see the few slots on the
catwalk as competition between them, she tries to approach it more positively
and says that casting is done by people whose mind they can't change, so there
is no way they can control that and models instead need to support each
other: ''There aren't a lot of African-American girls at each show, so it
probably is a little competitive - 45 looks and there aren't that many black
girls. But I don't like to look at it as competition. At the end of the
day, we don't make the decision. I do my part, you do your part.
They're gonna pick who they want, regardless. Some girls probably do look at it
as competition, but I think you have to support one another because at the end
of the day, it's hard for all of us. ''
